DIY Cloth Wipes

So today I reached 41 weeks.  and no sign of my little man.  What better way to celebrate then another nesting project!

Now, I made these weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to organizing photos and such.  So don't think i'm waddling around 7 days over due wasting away at my sewing machine.   I was 38 weeks pregnant waddling around wasting away at my machine. HA!  I had previously stated that Tad and I are jumping head first into Cloth Diapering and creating cloth wipes seems like a logical next step.

I really like this idea mostly because its part of the three-fold reason why we want to cloth diaper.

1.  Its Economical.  buy once, wash and reuse unlimited times.
2. It's Eco-Friendly.  I don't have to worry about putting more and more things into a landfill.
3. It's cute.  In this case, it's not that its cute so much as - it's something I get to be creative about.  And I get to pull out my sewing machine. And I get to use the yards and yards of flannel sitting in my fabric stash.  So its win-win-win. For me.

This is so easy its crazy!

First... pick out your flannels. Then decide on a size.  A friend gave me a stack of them, i decided to make mine a little smaller for no reason then I wanted to make sure they would fit in a container.  I decided upon a 7x7 square.  I assume after the wash and trimming some edges, they may slightly smaller than that.   Then sit with your cutter and cutting board and cut away.  this takes a long time and I did it over two or three sittings.

There you go.  A nice stack of about 50 or so flannel squares.  

Next, find your matching sides, I choose coordinating sides, face them right sides out.

We aren't going to turn, press and top stitch in these suckers.  

You could, but can you image how long THAT would take????

Then, sew like the wind.

I left about a quarter inch on the edge.  I used a zigzag stitch all the way around.  (Mostly because I can't sew straight lines.  Who needs that? It's not handmade if there aren't imperfections, I say.) 

If you have a serger, now is the best time to serge the edges for a cleaner edge.  You could also zigzag all around the edge.  Many options here. You decide.

Next my fav tool: pinking sheers.

In retrospect, I probably didn't have to sew that far inside. You live and learn. 

Lastly:

Sit back, admire your work.

As a friend said: That's the cutest thing even made to wipe a butt.

Beyond this, i'm working on a cloth wipe solution that will moisten these guys up.  

Generally, Most recipes call for the same thing just different types I've found:

 cups of water

tbs of oil

tbs of soap

couple drops of essential oils

then sometimes other additives.

My plan is a 2, 2, 2, 2 plan.  or half that for a 1, 1, 1, 1 recipe:

1 cup of water

1 tbs of coconut oil

1 tbs of baby wash

1 drop of tea tree oil

1 drop of lavender oil

I'll get back to you with an update on how that solution goes.  

For MORE DIY nesting projects: go here!